by Maia Dylan
Aaron frowned. “What, like on a Facebook for contract killers or something?”
“It’s a web or network that exists where you can buy or sell just about anything,” Marshall fired up the laptop, pulled a small cylindrical object from his pocket and began tapping away on it. “You’d be surprised what you can get your hands on if you have the right codes.”
Aaron waited quietly while Marshall stared at the screen and typed away. Making himself useful, he got up and tidied the breakfast dishes away and poured them both another cup of coffee. A few minutes later Marshall looked up at him.
“Looks like we have a decision to make, love,” Marshall pushed the screen in his direction. A quick glance told him that he had no clue what it was he was looking at. It appeared to be a thread of conversations that included numbers and random symbols through it, most of which looked unfamiliar or made no sense to him. The only thing he recognized was his own name on the screen a few times.
“Marshall, what is all of this? What does it mean?”
Marshall pointed to a few of the names and characters in bold. “These are actual people. When you use something like a Darknet, you don’t exactly sign on as Marshall or Looking For Love. The only way is to use a one-time password token,” Marshall pointed to what Aaron had thought was a pen drive. “That would give you a randomly created sequence of letters and numbers to log into your account. No one can track you because your handle or name on the net changes randomly from one log in to the next.”
“These are a string of threads, all looking for you,” he pointed to where his name was written clearly, but surrounded by random numbers. “They aren’t looking for me, or trying to find my persona on the net. Franklin is outing you and offering large dollars for your retrieval in a bid to smoke us out.”
Aaron gave him a wry grin. “I’m guessing this has nothing to do with a long-lost feeling of fatherly love and his need to reconnect with the son he lost.”
Marshall shook his head. “No, he’s trying to flush me out by throwing every asshole criminal with access to this damn system at you.”
“So what do we do? Take the job ourselves to stop others from getting involved?”
Marshall grinned. “Now you’re starting to think like me, and normally that might have worked, except it’s an open contract which is why there are so many people talking about you. My computer dinged when Franklin called me out specifically. He wants me to give myself up, go to him, and he’ll let you go.”
“Oh, hell no!” Aaron stood up from the table so fast his chair fell over, but he ignored it. “You’ve sacrificed yourself for me too damn much. There has to be another way. I am not letting that prick get his hands on you again. We are both finally free of him and that is how we are going to stay. We made this plan yesterday and we are going to see it through. Let’s just load ourselves up with weapons and go hunt the motherfucker down.”
Marshall pushed back from the table and stood up, stalked around the table and pulled Aaron into his arms for a kiss that left his head spinning. “Christ, that was sexy,” Marshall growled, moving his lips to the sensitive skin of Aaron’s neck, pushing the neck of the t-shirt he wore to the side as he went. “No one has ever been protective of me. Trust me lover, I don’t plan on throwing myself on my sword and giving in to that narcissistic fuck. We do have a plan, and believe it or not, we are in the perfect place to implement it. What I am going to do is make it very clear that if any one takes that contract and comes at you, they are coming at me. I can assure you that with my reputation, there’s not going to be many people out there willing to take that on.”
“What about those that are?” Aaron had to ask.
Marshall shrugged. “I kill them when they’re stupid enough to make a move.”
Aaron nodded. “Okay, so we have a plan, and I have to admit to feeling more than a little turned on by your badassary.”
“Badassary?” Marshall repeated in an amused tone. “I’m pretty sure that word doesn’t actually exist.”
Aaron grinned, sliding his hands up Marshall’s chest, loving the feel of his hot skin beneath his fingers. “Well it should. My man can take on a horde of money-hungry mercenaries out to kill the handsome hero who’s done nothing but have the unfortunate luck of being sired by an asshole. That is incredibly hot and would make for a fantastic romance book. But for now, let’s talk about that last part. What do you mean we are in the perfect position to implement this plan of ours?”
Marshall moved toward the window, taking Aaron with him. “I don’t just own this house, I own a huge plot of land that stretches for miles in either direction. There are alarms and traps all over this sect of land that will warn us if anyone comes at us that way, and from this vantage point, we can see anyone coming at us from the water. This house was built to withstand an all-out assault, and will give us a few tactical advantages that will come in handy. We have weapons and supplies to last for days, and we will have home court advantage. I want to bring Franklin here, where we can end him and whatever dumb assholes are stupid enough to throw in with him.”
Aaron took a deep breath, pushing down the fear and anxiety that rushed at him at the thought of taking on his father. “We do this, and that’s it. You, and your badass persona on that dark interweb thingee is over. We take off, go somewhere and live our life free of that man and his shit. Agreed?”
Marshall exhaled on a shaky breath. “That’s all I have ever wanted.” Aaron closed his eyes and sighed as Marshall leaned in to place his forehead against Aaron’s. “Just this one last hit, and we’re gone.”
He made it sound so damn easy… Aaron knew it was going to be anything but.
Chapter Seven
Marshall came awake instantly, but he remained unmoving, his breath even and calm as if he were still asleep. Aaron slept on in his arms, oblivious to Marshall’s instant awareness, or the danger that they were currently in. His internal clock told him it was sometime after two in the morning.
Cracking his eyes open he looked around the room. When he had the house built, he had placed the bedroom on the far southern side of the house, and from where he lay he had the perfect view of the entire room, thanks to the large mirror that hung on the opposite wall, as well as the veranda that wrapped around the front of the house. He could see nothing that would have his instincts screaming, but he hadn’t lived as long as he had in the world he did to not trust them implicitly. Five days after Marshall had planted their location in answer to Franklin’s demand for Marshall to come to him, and he’d made his move. Marshall was surprised it had taken him this long.
When he ascertained that the danger was not immediate, he woke Aaron as quietly and quickly as he could. When he was sure that Aaron had roused, he pressed his lips to his ear and whispered. “They’re here, baby.”
From the tension he felt immediately settle in Aaron’s body and the feel of his heart racing beneath the arm he had wrapped around his chest, Marshall knew he’d heard him and understood.
“They’re closer than I would have thought they could make it without triggering my alarms,” he continued. “That means we have to make a few changes to our plan. I’m going to need you to make your way down the tunnel, and secure yourself in that hunter’s hide I showed you in the tree just across from the tunnel exit. Do you remember it?”
Aaron nodded jerkily and Marshall tightened his grip. “Perfect. The rifle you practiced with yesterday is already in there. It’s loaded and ready as is the handgun that is sitting beside it. Remember to aim center mass,” he ran his arms over Aaron’s torso to remind him. “Two quick taps to the trigger as soon as you have the crosshairs somewhere here.” Aaron shuddered in his arms and Marshall closed his eyes, hating that he was putting the love of his life in such a position. “Aaron, I know that this is not you. You are everything right and perfect in this world and Christ, you chose a damn career in preserving lives and here I am asking you to take them. If this is too much, then just hunker down in that hide, and I will come for you
when this is over.”
Aaron made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a growl and fought to turn in his arms. Marshall allowed the movement.
“Are you fucking kidding me right now?” Aaron growled in his ear. “I know what is at stake here, Marshall, and I will do whatever it takes to keep you safe. Just like I know that you will do the same damn thing for me. Say something dumb like that again and I swear to God I will turn that damn rifle on you.”
Unbelievably, Marshall found himself fighting laughter. “Okay, my trigger-happy love. I won’t be so stupid ever again. I promise.”
“Good,” Aaron grumbled. “Now, I’m going to roll out of this bed and make my way to that hide thing. Give me a couple of minutes to get there before you go Rambo on me, okay?”
Marshall didn’t think they would have minutes, his internal alarms were already screaming at him to move now, but he didn’t think telling Aaron that would be of any help. “The earpiece is in the satchel, pop it in when you get there, that way we can talk to each other.”
Aaron started to slide from the bed, but paused. “Don’t think I don’t know you put that earpiece and mic in the bag to try and limit your chances of me shooting your ass.”
Marshall stopped him and gave Aaron an urgent open-mouthed kiss. “I reckon my ass will be safe in your hands.”
Aaron shook his head, but the grin told Marshall he thought it was funny. Marshall slid from the other side, and pulled on a pair of trousers. They were black, with hidden compartments that housed a few weapons. They were made of a material that helped him to move without sound. He pulled on a black t-shirt then moved to the almost invisible panel on the wall. Placing his palm against it, he waited three seconds and there was an almost imperceptible whoosh as the section of the floor that hid the escape passage sild back. Aaron was still pulling on his own shirt as he circled around the bed toward the opening.
“Go quickly, my love,” Marshall warned. “We don’t have much time.”
Aaron nodded, then climbed down the stairs he paused at the bottom to look up at Marshall, love and fear warring for supremacy in his gaze. “I love you, Marshall. Always have. Even when I thought I’d lost you for good.”
Marshall’s heart stuttered in his chest. “I know that, baby. Doesn’t mean I won’t be spanking your ass later for telling me this now like it’s a goodbye or some such shit.” Aaron’s grin robbed his expression of some of his fear which Marshall was pleased to see. “Now go.”
Aaron started down the corridor and Marshall sent up a prayer that he had protected his route to that hide well enough that no one would see him. Then, not allowing himself to dwell on that too much, he grabbed the two silencer-equipped handguns he kept in his bedside table, placed his earpiece in his left ear and went hunting. He was almost to the door when he caught the subtle sound of cloth sliding against the wall just outside the bedroom door.
Cursing, he moved to one side of the opening, sliding his guns into the back of his trousers and palmed the blade from the holster at his thigh and waited. If the fuckers were already in the house, then they were more trained than he had given them credit for. He remained still, his breathing shallow and his heart rate normal. It always surprised him that many in this situation might panic, their hearts racing in fear or anxiety, but he was never calmer and in control than when he was in situations like this one, facing an unknown adversary with nothing more than a few weapons and his own ability to rely on.
“I’m here.”
A breathless sounding Aaron said in his ear and Marshall grinned. His man must have sprinted down the tunnel to make it to the hide in that short a time. It felt nice that he had more than just his wits to back him up. He had the love of his life as well. He tapped his earpiece twice to let Aaron know he couldn’t talk.
“Shit, that means you can’t talk,” Aaron said. “Should I not talk, either? Will that distract you? Damn it we should have spoken about this a little more.”
Marshall shook his head with a grin. What the hell did it say about him that as he crouched against the wall waiting for someone to step through the door so he could bury the knife he held in his hand in the man’s carotid artery, that he was amused and grinning like a fool.
When a figure stepped quietly into the room, a gun pointing toward the bed, he waited a moment longer. As the attacker started to sweep the room with his weapon, Marshall struck, rising quickly and grabbing the man around the forehead, he plunged his knife three times in quick succession into the soft flesh below the man’s skull bone, driving the blade into his brain. Marshall lowered the dead to the ground as quietly and quickly as possible.
A quick glance around the door frame gave him the opportunity to answer Aaron. “You can talk to me, babe,” he breathed, knowing the state of the art military grade mic would pick up his words. “I love to hear your voice.”
Aaron released a shaky breath. “Okay, so you’re alive. That’s good.”
“You really don’t have a lot of faith in my abilities, do you, baby?” Marshall moved out of his bedroom and started toward the front of the house. His perimeter alarms hadn’t been triggered so he figured these fuckers had come in by water.
“I do,” Aaron said quickly. “I’m just not good sitting out here safe when I know you’re in there fighting for your life. Now, I counted six or seven men at the front of the house, and three at the back.”
“Six or seven? You can’t be more specific?” Marshall moved along the wall, and made his way to the sliding doors that ran the length of the living room and lead to the veranda that ran around the front of the house.
“Not really,” Aaron said sounding a little embarrassed. “There was this one shape that I think I might have counted twice.”
Marshall was about to answer, but remained silent and threw himself to the left when he felt rather than heard movement to his left. He felt the sting of the blade as it sliced across his clavicle. Fucker had been aiming for his carotid.
He ignored the wet hot slide of blood down his chest as he spun and engaged the man in hand to hand combat. The two fought without words, both of them battling for supremacy, lunging to test the other to see who would falter first. Marshall could tell from the way the man moved he was just as trained and just as deadly as he was. There was only one clear advantage Marshall had in his favor. If he lost, he’d lose Aaron forever, and leave him there to face another nine or ten men on his own. And there was no fucking way he was going to allow that to happen. There was nothing more deadly than a trained killer with everything in the world to lose.
Chapter Eight
Aaron’s heart felt like it was about to beat right out of his chest. There was no mistaking the sounds of combat he heard over the earpiece. Somewhere inside that house the man who held his heart in his hands was fighting an assailant Aaron’s own father had sent after the both of them. It took everything he had to stay in that fucking hide, just like he promised, and not run to Marshall’s aid. It was only the fact that he knew he’d be of no help whatsoever that kept him in that damn tree.
Taking a few deep breaths, he put his eye back to the scope of the silencer-equipped weapon and began to sweep the outside of the house again. Two of the six or seven men he had seen lurking at the front of the house began to move around the left side of the house. Exhaling, he held still as he sighted down the scope and leveled the crosshairs on the last man’s chest. There was a noticeable shake in the barrel and he prayed that he would be able to make the shot. He tapped the trigger twice, absorbing the recoil like Marshall showed him before he inhaled and allowed himself to breath.
He steadfastly ignored the first target as he lined up the next. This one was more difficult, mainly because the bastard was moving back toward his friend. Aaron hovered the crosshairs somewhere near the man’s torso and tapped the trigger three times. He figured with the guy on the move he’d fire a third time just in case. When both men remained prone on the ground, Aaron swallowed the bile that rose in his throat and breat
hed through the shock that threatened to knock him straight into a heart attack.
Taking a deep breath, he lifted the scope and forced himself to continue sweeping the south side of the house.
“Two down, Marshall,” Aaron said softly over the sounds of flesh meeting flesh and grunts of exertion sounded over his earpiece.
He started to panic when Marshall never answered. Flashes of light came from the living room window a split second before the sound of guns being fired reached him over the earpiece.
“Oh, God, Marshall!” Aaron had thought to scream those words, but they came out more as a moan, filled with pain.
A wave of anger swept through him when he saw another two men come running around the side of the house heading in his direction. His father had sent these men here to kill him. That pissed him off, but it wasn’t all together unexpected. His father had never had any time nor love for him. But they were here to take Marshall from him. Oh sure, he had spent the last seven years believing that he was dead, but knowing that he lived, and that he loved Aaron as much as Aaron loved him, that changed things. They thought to take away Aaron’s reason for living. And that made him homicidal.
Lifting the gun with a growl, he exhaled and placed his eye to the scope. This time the barrel never wavered. He double tapped the trigger, swept to the side then repeated the action. As he watched the second man drop to the ground, he inhaled. He thought it was a telling sign that there was no nausea, no shock, just a weighted sense of righteousness. This was about survival and revenge. If these fuckers had taken Marshal from him, then he sure as hell was going to take out as many of them as possible.
Then he was going for his father.
“Aaron,” Marshall’s breathless voice sounded in his ear.
“Marshall!” his voice was practically a sob. “Oh, thank God.”
“You weren’t worried now, were you?” Despite his words, Aaron knew that Marshall was hurt. He could hear the pain in his lover’s voice and his heart ached to get to him.
